A Shower of Blessings

Cameron's first shower was yesterday, and he scored some serious booty! I'm very thankful for the generosity of friends and family and am reminded how blessed Jerome and I are to have some wonderful people in our lives. The hostesses (Kirsten, Haley and Amber) fixed up Haley's home beautifully. The food, decor and atmosphere were just perfect.

I was especially happy to have the crazy girls in my family in town for the weekend: Mom, Kirsten, Aunt Cindy and Jennifer. We totally girled it up and I pity any man who crossed our paths yesterday while we were out in public. We made a trip to Gordman's to check out some home goods, then made a stop by two or three McDonald's restaurants in order to find Kirsten a dipped cone. Unfortunately, all locations' machines were either out of chocolate or weren't working properly. We came up short and poor Cookie was sorely disappointed, but she only reminded us of that dipped cone about 10 or 12 times all night, so it wasn't too bad.

: )

We came back to the house and sorted through Cam's new goodies. Things got crazy when Kirsten whipped out some 70's music on her phone and Mom and Aunt Cindy started dancing the night away.

In all, we made some hilarious and sweet memories that I'll cherish forever.

Deck the Walls

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love typography. Although I'm not big on quotes or cliches, I do like personalized prints and custom pieces. I'm hoping to use my extremely limited Photoshop skills to whip up some prints for the baby's room.

Pinterest provides a great place for me to gather ideas for wall art. I pulled these from by "Baby" board.

I'm a big fan of framing a collection of photos or illustrations. Have I done this in my own house, you ask? No. I'm too chicken and afraid I won't hang the frames evenly. But I'm willing to take a risk with the fun baby room.

These airplanes are cute but not too cute or cartoonish - definitely a look I like. And don't you love the huge catch-all bins in the cabinets? Great idea: practical and stylish.

There are so many great wall decor options to consider, and I could spend all day dreaming up what to nail into the sheetrock, but dressing the walls will likely be the last piece of the puzzle for the room. My goal? Start with with bedding, a rug and curtains, then build from there.

Let the madness begin

Baby showers are upon us, and I couldn't be more excited or thankful for the things we're about to receive from friends and family.

I was pleased to receive our first gift for baby Cam on Tuesday evening: a pack and play from an old high school friend of mine and childhood friend of Jerome's. It's really sweet to be reminded of old friendships during times like these. People are so kind to remember us.

Thanks, Jason!

Baby Bumpin'

Here's a recent baby bump photo at approximately 24 weeks.

I haven't been forced into maternity clothes yet, but I sure am squeezing the life out of my normal clothes, or rather, they're squeezing the life out of me.

I believe a full-on maternity wardrobe (complete with stretchy pants and leggings, of course) is just around the corner. I've worn a few maternity tops and they're extremely comfortable. At almost 6' tall, my main issue is finding tops that are long enough for my normal, non-pregnant self. Compounded with the ever-growing bump, shirt length has proven to be quite a challenge the past month or so. A small price to pay for a baby on the way!

Cameron is moving around like crazy and it's so neat to feel that. In the middle of an insane work day, I'm constantly reminded of this little blessing.

A Clean Slate

After the holidays, it's nice to start with a clean slate, especially when it comes to decorating. I take after my mom in this instance. We both decorate like crazy for Thanksgiving and Christmas, then scale way back in January.

I'm happy to be able to start from the ground up with Cameron's room and be able to customize it exactly how I want it. There are no crazy colors, patterns, molding or anything out of the ordinary in there, which will make the nursery decorating process a little easier.

With tremendous help from Mom, I now have a plan for the room, and let me tell you, it feels good!

Here are a few shots to show you just how perfectly bare the room is.

The scene as you walk into the room - closet on the left, hidden nook around right corner

Now I'm taking you clockwise around the room 

I'll be sure to post nursery updates as I add elements one-by-one. For now, I'll leave you with this adorable $30 purchase from a local antique store I purchased last weekend. I think this little gem was well worth the money.

Stay tuned for progress!